Improvement in farm-gates



Dcscrfipto'of the ccomp'anying Drawing.

armed levers.

naar and.

en'onen,

apela-Donn," or vDancin ILLINMS,

" Leners Patmf1ra.1o5,662,daad .my 26, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT 1N v:carni/x-cm'rns.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part ofthe'same.

` .I, Gnoncn J.FIEDLER, of anby, in thecounty of `Dullage and State `of Illinois, have` invented certain ImprovemetsfinFarm-Gates,of which tl1e-fol-v lo'wingis-faspecification..` v l My invention relates; to that class of gates which.

open `by 4the. weight of 'anap'proaching `rehicle,horse,

or foot-passenger pressing `upon a platform leading ing np `to thegate, which `pressure wlloperate to open l the gate only after the proper adjustment of a spring catch oi` latch.

v The objecto'f my invention is to render it unnecessary to alight from a horseor vehicle to open the gate `before driving `or riding through, orA to close it atter- `ward.

y This I accomplish by inclined platforms,restingby their upper edges .upon a double `horizontal bar, which vis connected with triple-armed levers and extensionlattices, which convert thedownward motion of the platform into a lateral motion of the gate-leaves, as will he more particularly shown hereinafter-.1 n

'.l` he catchwhichfastens the gate, to guard against straying cattle, is opened bya handslever' `or a transverse rail alongjthefoot of the platform, which, lying -in the patlnlis' pressed down by the front wheel of an Figure 1 is a front view-of thegate, in which a sec- `tion of the platform is shown.

` `Figure 2 is a view of oneleaf ofthe gate, as it ap-A pears when open.

lFigureI 3'is a section on the line a: :cof Iig. `1. Figure 4 is a plan vie'vvof the bottom part of the gate, showingonlythe arrangment and operation of the springrcatch.A n z y l -Figureb is a plan or top view ofone of the triple- General Description. A Aare the gate-leaves, which move along the A track t upon the rollers r;

B B are the gate-posts,"having apertures through whichthe gate-leaves nuove.

G G2 are pivots or fu1crums',bearing upon the gatep Radiatin'g' from OC are the trple-armed levers,

composed ofthe several arms L, lE, and D. PIfare the platforms,one upon each side,`forming the roadwaythroughthc gate.- These platforms rest,

by their upper edges, jupon the double barb b.

' Connected with' the arms E o f the triple-armed le'- vers are the extension lattice-leversF These lat tice-leversihave bearings upon the gate-posts B B, and areattached to the gate-leaves A'A. The-operation of these lattice-levers" will be `more particularly hereinafter describech` The double barb b is connected with the armsD of the triple-armed levers, andthe `w'eights W are hung to the .arms L ofthe triple-armed levers.l This arrangement of parts has' -for its object to convert the downward motion of the platforms P P into lateral motion of the gate-leaves A A, the double bar, the l triple-armedlevers, and the extension lattice-levers serving to convey and con-vert the motion.

-The extension lattice-levers'F-F consist Vofaseries of X-shaped levers,with equal arms, pivoted'together at the center in pairs, each .pair being jointed to the succeeding pair. At both ends of this jointed series the free ends of the level-sare connected by jointed bars y, the joints of which correspond in position to the line of pivots. From the `joints of these bars.;

short pieces z extend, 'by means of whiehgtlgie` series `is attached at'one end to the -arms E, and at the other to thegate-leaves, as vis shown in fig. `1. .The lattice-levers are pivoted, at It, to the gatefpostsB.

Pressure applied to the platform P 'bears down the double 'bar lfb, which communicates itsmotion to the triple-armed levers by the arms D. The arms E'are connected with the -extension lattice-levers F, and spread apart the Xshaped levers. The iirst pair, beingfast to the gate-posts at the pivots of this pair h,

' the resultant motion will be a" contraction of the length of the series; that is to say, the entire series of pairs will'be spread apart in breadth, which will Y contract them in length. This contraction brings the gate-leaves open. At the same time, and by the same motion of the .triple-armed levers, the arms L, with the weight W attached,"are elevated, asshown' in .The pressure being removed from the platform, the weights W assert themselves, and bring 4down the arms L, which move the arms E, so that the action of Athe extension lattice-levers, above described, is reversed, and the gate-leaves brought together in opposite directions and closed. At the same time the Varms-D bring up the double bar and platform to their 4 normal position.` However, before the abovefdescribed opening of the gate-leaves can take place, the .spring catch sGmust be loosened. This spring-catch, together with its operation, I will now proceed to describe.- l Immediately at the meeting-point of the two gate.n leaves, and pivoted to the sleeper `which fcarri'es, the

track t, is the double latch G, to which a springisat# tached, forming' a spring catch.V From each of the gate-leaves atongue extends down, catching into this latch upon opposite` sides`,so that, when the'gateleaves are brought up and closed, the spring catch,

holdsthem in that position.

Attached to the double latch or spring catch G are two rods, m m. These. rods connect with the short arms n n, which extenddownward fromthe shafts p p. Extending upward from the endl of these shafts.

are the hand-levers H, one at the side of' each platform. Thesbafts p have bearings at the sides of the platforms. Now, if the handlever H is moved in the direction of the arrow, iig. 43, it will turn the shaft p, which will move the short arm n, which, pulling the rod an, will open the spring catch.

From the shafts p also extend horizontally the short arms q, upon which rest the rails R. Now, if these rails are pressed down, the arms q will turn the `shaft in the same manner as the above-described hand-levers H, and the rods will open the spring catch.

NVhen 'it' is desired to pass through the gate with a. wagon, the horses are driven upon the platform, and the front wheels, following after, run over and press down the rail R, which lies in the roadway at the foot of the platform, and directly across the path of the wheels. The spring catch being loosened by the pressure of the front wheels upon the rail R, the platform sinks under the weight of the horses, andthe gate rolls open; the team and wagon pass through, and as soonas the platform upon the other side is relieved from pressure, the gate is closed by the weights W, as above described.

A foot-passen ger or person upon horseback may use the hand-lever H to open the spring catch; his own weight will then open the gate.

The hand-levers H H may be placed in any convenient place, by connecting them with rods to the shafts 1). I place them direc'tlyupon the said shafts.

I do not limit myself` to constructing a gate with two leayes, but the above-described arrangement of parts may be applied to a single leaf, requiring'- then but a single triple-armedlever and extension latticelever.v

Claims.

I claim- 1. The triple-armed lever, composed of the parts L E D, when constructed and operating with extension lattice-levers F to open and close a gate, substantially as'above, and' in the manner specified and shown.

2. The combination of a triple-armed level', a platform, and a double bar, a weight, and extension lat- Witnesses:

Lnwls L. GoBURN, J. 'W. M UNDAY. 

